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Re: Carbon Emissions Calculator
2011-10-08 07:59:42 UTC
Max,
Congratulations on your imminent degree completion! Im also a doctoral candidate, in final stages of writing dissertation, which was why I didnt respond earlier have been buried under spreadsheets and graphs. My work focuses on improving the GHG footprint modeling at an institution level (I performed the modeling for my university), expanding that into a sustainability model, and prioritizing mitigation options.
I dont know of a carbon footprint calculator that will directly do what youre aiming for, but there are several pieces I can point you towards.
In the US there is a program called the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC http://www.presidentsclimatecommitment.org/ ). Participating institutions use a calculator called Clean Air-Cool Planet to compute an institution-wide footprint. The model is available free at http://www.cleanair-coolplanet.org/toolkit/inv-calculator.php and addresses Scope 1 direct emissions (on-site energy generation, fleet vehicle emissions, refrigerant & chemical usage, and agriculture all might not be relevant for your situation), Scope 2 emissions from purchased energy, and Scope 3 emissions including commuting (faculty & staff in addition to students), air travel, other travel (we included athletic teams in our modeling), solid waste, wastewater, paper purchases, and offsets. Full modeling with this tool is probably beyond your current interest, gathering from your responses to other posts, but there might be equations in the model that would be useful for your purposes. Particularly for purchased energy youd need to know how your utility generates it (very different GHG profiles for different fuels) to compute your personal footprint.
Reports for individual institutions are available in a searchable database at http://rs.acupcc.org/ and general summaries at http://rs.acupcc.org/stats/ . Reports are normalized on a per-student basis (and by several other denominators). So maybe you could find institutions that are similar in size and climate to yours (heating and cooling degree days are an important variable for energy consumption) and use the per student results. (But bear in mind that not all institutions are equally rigorous in their use of the model. I attempted benchmarking and found several that had omitted whole sections. I can vouch for the one I performed, available at http://rs.acupcc.org/ghg/1425/ )
This approach would not give a completely accurate value for you, but short of doing the actual modeling for your situation, might be close enough for your purpose.
If you have further questions or need insights on particular aspects, please feel free to write me at the email below.
Best wishes with your project!
Carol Clinton, P.E., LEED AP
PhD Candidate, Environmental Engineering
University of Cincinnati (Ohio, USA)
School of Energy, Environmental, Biological and Medical Engineering
[email protected] or [email protected]
Carol Clinton
United States
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